The Role Of Religion In Bless Me Ultima

There was a strange power in Ultima’s medicine,” (27). This shows that Ultima’s magic is now affecting Antonio’s view on Ultima now that he’s

As Antonio is going through life, Ultima uses her wisdom to guide him through his

It is inevitable that certain moments in your life will affect how you think and act forever. These epiphanies can occur anywhere and anytime throughout life, whether it be when you're an immature child or a fully developed adult. The sudden realization can be shocking and life changing or so miniscule that you don’t realize the change within yourself. In Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio at the young age of seven, encountered many situations that caused his perceptions of reality to alter. Many factors such as death and the introduction to secular ideologies caused these epiphanies to arise.

The wisest man asks questions pertaining to the complexities of life. However, when no answers are delivered said man seeks answers in a place that seems most correct. The spiritual life relies on believers who have strong fundamental beliefs in hope. The unshaken foundation relies on believers who give their everlasting hope and have solace in this faith alone. The faith goes deeper than understanding, but full reliance on the church and its holy deities to solve the world 's most mysterious questions, cure even the most powerful illness and still have faith when such actions do not occur. In Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima Antonio sought to find the answers he was so desperately in search for, however he never received an answer. Antonio’s religious ambivalence is created through his journey of life from several encounters, life and death alike, and not receiving answers to the questions that he most desperately sought for. The aspect of Antonio’s ideal benevolent God verses the God he was presented, and external sources, would all create different epiphanies that would lead him astray from the traditional church and into other spiritual realms. These realms would be an outlet for him to receive enlightenment to the situations of which he was presented.

Death is abstruse but can make one savvy. The way one thinks may be shifted by an incident, bringing them to a point where they feel uncertain about what they believe in. All the purity and sin that comes with this life is what brings them to become equivocal and controversial as to what is right and wrong. Thoughts of doubt may not be cleared up, but it will allow one to find a path they pertain to. A novel, Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya relates to this concept in the sense that the main character Antonio Márez is conflicted due to the deaths he encounters which alters his beliefs.

His parents have ideas which conflict each other when it relates to their precious last son’s fate. Like a hawk swooping down on its prey, Ultima, an elderly curandera comes to occupy a room in the Marez residence. To everyone else in the house Ultima staying with them is negligible, but the bond Antonio and Ultima soon begin to create is the first step into Antonio’s quest in finding his fate. “When she came the beauty of the llano unfolded before my eyes, and the gurgling waters of the river sang to the hum of the turning earth. The magical time of childhood stood still, and the pulse of the living earth pressed its mystery into my living blood.”(Anaya 1) Ultima’s presence alone lifted Antonio’s spirits, even the little things such as the llano he lived on all his life that had become mundane to him, began to glisten with great importance.

Hardship in childhood can cause children to be wise beyond their years. A child 's experiences are what shape their future, making them evolve both mentally and spiritually. In Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio’s system of beliefs is greatly influenced by the perception of God that is instilled in him mainly by his mother. His understanding of God is forced to evolve as Antonio goes through many experiences throughout the course of the novel, including the tragedies that befall Narciso, Florence, and Ultima and his exposure to these characters. God is a being that is characterized by his punishment of those who sin and his protection of those who do not. As the events in this novel unfold, Antonio sees on many occasions how the God that he believes in does not perform the roles that he believed he did.

sand in its beak. It has to pick up only one grain of sand, fly all the

Another example of Antonio's sense of development in good and evil is his home. It is means a lot to Antonio, because the people living in it makes him feel protected and provide warmth to him. When Tenorio and his men came to his house to take Ultima away, Antonio’s father "You walk on my land! That is my business" (Anaya 130). This make Antonio feel that he would be protected by the presence of his father., Gabriel. However, Antonio's mother made home very fond and ardent for him. She had always been affectionate towards him and would show him care. Most importantly, Ultima was the one who contributed to the goodness of Antonio's home. She made Antonio feel as though her presence filled the home with love and safety. It was Ultima who calmed Antonio down after he had seen Lupito die. Whenever he had a nightmare, Ultima would always be right beside to comfort Antonio and " could sleep again" (Anaya 34). Ultima's fearlessness against Tenorio and his three daughters made Antonio feel that he would be safe wherever Ultima was. Overall, the

Ultima is an old curandera, which means healer in spanish, who comes to El Puerto to live with the Marez family after she is left alone in the town of Las Pasturas. When she arrives and turns to greet him, Antonio feels awestruck. According to Antonio, he “felt the power of a whirlwind sweep around me (Anaya 12).” A series of events occur throughout the story which makes Antonio overprotective of La Ultima. For instance, when Antonio and Ultima go to his grandfather’s house to cure his uncle, “Some women bowed their heads, other made the sign of the cross (Anaya 104).” Crossing your forehead in front of someone who is helping your family is a sign of disrespect. I feel that if I were Antonio, I would feel very offended because Ultima is my friend and nobody should be disrespected in front of the people you care for the most. As Antonio grows, he finds himself questioning his religion and comes to accept that everything is not what it seems. For example, Antonio realizes that the people of the town can be very judgemental and will blindly follow anyone because they fear the unknown. Antonio has to deal with is brothers who are led astray by the prostitutes of the town and their unrealistic dreams. After the war ended, his brothers came back, but with different plans for themselves. They leave because they want to be free, but I believe that they chain

The geography of the town of Guadelupe from the book Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya is immensely symbolic. After Lupito was murdered at the river, Antonio becomes “afraid of the awful presence of the river, which was the soul of the river” (15). The water conveys the impurity of the town it surrounds and at the same time, it symbolizes the cleansing of nefarious acts and thoughts of the town’s people. The river also illustrates how life continues to flow no matter the case. However, Antonio comprehends that the town’s detrimental avocations will soon reach his family when he reveals to himself that “the innocence which our isolation sheltered could not last forever” (20). Their isolation restrains the corrupt ways of the city and its people.

The majority of parents portray how they would want their kids to grow up and many may even enforce their opinions and decisions onto their children. In the book Bless Me, Ultima, the protagonist’s parents readily express how they ideally desire Antonio to choose a specific path, consequently placing Antonio in the center of a conflict between his parents’ cultural backgrounds. However, as Antonio’s story progresses, Antonio becomes conflicted when put to the test to satisfy the cultural differences on his parents’ sides of the family. Both of his parents imply that Antonio should take pride in the ancestry and become like his ancestors from the each side of the family. As Antonio’s mother states in the novel, “You will be like my brothers.” this causes the conflict of identity to turmoil within Antonio and even adds feelings of confusion (Anaya 9). Antonio’s father and mother have mutual feelings of how Antonio is to become what their own families raised

Throughout the confrontation that Ernie and Antonio have about Ultima, Antonio has to stand up for her because of the way he is being raised in which his family had customs and beliefs. In his family's eyes a curandera’s power is strong enough to help them through any obstacle in life. Curandera’s are known for being very spiritual to the Earth, such as the way Ultima is to the Earth due to the fact that she knows all the herbs and medicines to help and cure people of what they are facing. Ultima is a mentor towards Antonio and tries to teach Antonio all there is to know before she passes away. Antonio will stand up for her due to his customs and beliefs.

In the novel Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, the main character Antonio Marez tells the story of his coming of age with his curandera and mentor Ultima. Rudolfo Anaya weaves a story from the child’s point of view of good and evil, of myth and reality, and of life and death. Throughout the novel, Antonio struggles with his identity, his faith in God, his family and destiny.

Only a few books dare to discuss the confusion surrounded by a religious awakening. In Bless Me Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya, Premio Quinto Sol national Chicano literary award recipient, challenges standard religion and brings in different ideas through the perspective of a young and confused boy. Due to the new ideas that he is introduced to, the events that occurs especially deaths, and his eagerness for knowledge all leads Antonio to question his religious beliefs. At the end of his struggle to understand, the boy reaches the peace of mind he was seeking.